By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices extended gains on Monday, as attacks between the United States and Iran on ships sailing in the Strait of Hormuz and other areas raised concerns of a prolonged supply disruption from the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose 52 cents, or 0.54%, to $96.80 a barrel by 2354 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $92.14 a barrel, up 66 cents, or 0.72%. Brent rose 7.8% last week, while WTI gained almost 10% after the United States and Iran renewed attacks and caused a reduction in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply used to transit. U.S. forces attacked three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near Iran’s main oil export hub. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy said on Saturday it had attacked three oil tankers traveling on unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as three additional US vessels in other areas. Saturday’s attacks represented a “major escalation in the maritime conflict,” maritime intelligence firm Marisks said. “Commercial tankers are now being deliberately used as instruments of reciprocal economic pressure, substantially weakening the previous distinction between military confrontation and commercial shipping,” he added. An average of 10 cargo ships transited the Strait of Hormuz per day over the past 10 days, the lowest level since May, data from analytics firm Kpler showed on Monday. A restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz will be announced in the coming days, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Sunday, according to state media. OPEC+ kept its oil production policy unchanged for October at a meeting on Sunday, the producer group said in a statement, as it needs to agree new quotas before deciding its next production steps. A protracted standoff, marked by calibrated military action by the United States and Iran, appeared to be the most likely scenario and would likely delay the path to full Middle East supply recovery, ANZ analysts said in a note. “We then expect exports to remain limited for the remainder of 2026, before a gradual reopening in late Q4 2026,” they said, adding that a return to pre-war performance is not expected until late Q1 or early Q2 2027. (Reporting by Florence Tan; editing by Lincoln Feast).
